Shu's Final Chance
by Nylark
Summary: A Young general lies to be the only hope found in this large land for the Shu, will the hopes turn out to be what figured or will he be the final loss of the Shu Dynasty
1. Default Chapter

** Do not Own Any Characters of Shu other than Ma Xu Cheng. Now that thats  
done , lets get to the story shall we !! **  
  
The Shu's Final Strikes  
  
Maybe the Shu didn't have many warriors. At this time in the Era Shu  
had come down to its starting few. The only fighters left were Ma Chao, Zhang Fei, Liu Bei,and finally Jiang Wei. It was a shame when Zhuge Liang died. Nothing could have been done to save him , just as the others. Really  
there hopes lied in an officer who Liu Bei had been scouting for almost three seasons. He had taken in the determination of the young soldier. That mans name was Ma Xu Cheng. Also something that hinted him was that he was  
related to the famous Ma Chao. Liu Bei figured he would prove a fine general as his cousin had. One day Liu Bei was walking around his camp to  
check up on the provisional status of the army, along withe the morale. Seemingly the morale had little function in the army from its now lack of generals. Knowing that they had little hopes of defeating the much larger forces of Wei and Wu made it minimal. The Lord of Shu let out a slow sigh  
seeing they would not be ready for the fight against Wei this later evening. As he kept walking he took notice to where Ma Xu Cheng was. All around not one soldier showed lack of spirit. Seemingly the troops there  
having more confidence from Cheng's encouragements. As Liu Bei came  
somewhat closer he listened in to all the conversation being said by Ma Cheng, " Men, I know we are low on hope. This is how I can motivate you. Think about our families, you wish them to be living under the cruel lives of the Wei or Wu? I don't think so. Now lets carry on with the events, " when he finished The King of Shu watched some in amazement of the short yet greatly motivating quote. He watches and couldn't hold back a laugh as he  
watched the men drinking down great jugs of wine seemingly it being a  
contest of sorts.  
  
Later on that evening the time had come, the battle was about ready  
to start. Now without the leading stratagies of their most trusted strategist, Zhuge Liang, They relied on his apprentice and fellow general  
Jiang Wei. Having been studying for a great time now with Zhuge and his books he had easily shown his skill in earlier battles. The real question here was would his stratagy be enough to over power the mighty strength of  
Wei? The land with many generals and soldier, perhaps a trick would now  
work and hardly even tarnish the vast army. Although, they Shu general needed to put doubt aside, now was the time for action not thought. He had scanned the army which he intended to attack. The scouts had reported near 7500 troops on the way. He knew it was nearly twice as large as his 4000 troops. As he rode slowly out onto the ranks he could only think of what bravery they could show facing the large force. All he could do is hope his army could use surprise to win this battle. If so that would give time for Ma Chao to come. By chance if they would win he had the plan of turning Ma  
Cheng into a general, about his current position. Knowing the time had finally arrived he stood infront of a 1000 archers and watched them light their arrows on fire , pulling back the bow they awaited the orders. On the  
other side of the hill were the army's vast horsemen line. Over 2000 of them. In the far back lied the final line of attack, the spear privates. As Liu Bei let the last thought of loss from his mind he yelled out, " Fire the arrows into them , show them the Shu remains Alive!, " without another word arrows hissed into the wood covering in the distance. Slowly a large force broke out, some already on fire from the unknown attack. Quickly the  
archers volleyed off another set of arrows collecting more flaming carcasses to there already vast number. Suddenly a look of fear surged over Bei and His men. He felt the ground quickly begin trembleing. Suddenly from  
over the hill a number of over 5000 horsemen carrying long spear arms wearing Blue armor charge. Without a second notice the archers volleyed off a quick round of arrows hitting few of the men seeing there great speed. Without another second the word " Retreat" could be heard all through the  
line. The ambush party quickly charged forward cutting down the running  
forces causing an onslaughter of over 100 archers in quick times, the number growing. Liu Bei looked onto the battlefield swiftly his eyes still  
darting around a bit watching. A moment later he felt himself kick his horse and begin to follow his archers in the run. Without an army, there is no battle for him. As he ran many others awaited no order to follow, the  
now 2000 men in all racing for their lives. The battle was losted... he  
could do nothing to save it. 


	2. Shu's Final Strike: Part 2

** Do not own any characters in this story other than Ma Xu Cheng !! Just  
saying as usual. **  
  
Shu's Final Strike: Part 2  
  
When Liu Bei finally escaped the full battle all he could do was look back onto the field. He saw many bodies laying around. It seemed like such  
a loss for so many lives to be lost without good reason here. Although, there was one advantage out of this battle. He had seen what forces Wei had left, at least the main part of it. Over 5000 had come onto the battlfield in the beginning. As the battle went on in the retreat Liu Bei knew he had seen well over 12,000 riding towards the scattered force. All he could do now is hope for some of his 2000 he could see to return. As the night went on he found that only 1000 had really returned. The other probably dead or  
missing in the night. Something that puzzled him was how perfect the enemies plan had been, as if it was a trap. Thinking further he remembered something. After that battle he intended on giving Ma Xu Cheng the Rank of  
General in his small force. Through his ride along what was left of the force he finally came up to the still living Ma Cheng. As he got there he jumped from the horse, his 6 imperial guards as always closely following.  
Ma Cheng bowed quickly as accustom when their lord was around. Liu Bei watched the loyal and well trained soldier quickly calling him back up from the bow. " Ma Cheng, although I had intended on giving you this when your cousin arrived...but seeing as how he is behind his schedule I think you deserve this. ", He extended a largly pladded armor suit. Greatly decaled  
with dragons riding up and down it somewhat like Ma Chao's. As Ma Cheng took it he bowed again as Liu Bei watched. " Lord Liu Bei, I thank you for  
this great gift. I hope that I fill it as well as my cousin had in your service." Without much more talking he had fitted into the uniform showing his leadership and now general rank. As the night went on the small fires went out. Now the forces slept. Liu Bei however was still up most of the  
night falling asleep on the thought of Ma Cheng. Would this young now  
general fill out to be what he thought, a savior for the Dynasty ?  
  
Slowly the day came. The light and warmth of this morning rising the mens spirits and morale quickly. At this time of the season, which was near winter it was a seldom event. Ma Cheng showed no real authority over his units. He felt himself still as equal as he was before. Also having been trained for a few years by Ma Chao he learned you could earn repect from your units through equality, not fear and discipline. Finally as the troops under Ma Chao appears everything seemed even more onward towards a great day. He carried almost 3500 troops with him. When he left out from Zhang Fei's camp he had almost 4500. From untactical attacks he lost 1000. While on this long ride Wei and Wu had a few plans of attack. Although both of the larger dynasties greatly disliked one another, Shu was the essential  
force to destroy from its small and weakened form. Wei and Wu had one problem destroying the small Dynasty. Shown easily at this moment was the morale of the Shu. They grew stronger over their opponents each day from it. Maybe their forces were limited but they had moral to reach the skies. This was something that needed to be broken for them to be beat. As planned Zhang He had scouted the Shu's camp through the night from a small hidden  
force. He now had his forces in position for a battle here. He hoped  
greatly for no suprise when attacking. Knowing his numbers were great enough to scare even a Wu attack. At this moment he carried 10,000 troops  
at his back. They were although scattered around the four directions of escape. The Shu would need to break and scatter for any chance of running. With a smile on his face he stepped forward a bit and looked down onto the  
forces over the hill .A moment later he lined archers all around on the  
hill top. With a swift movement of his arm the archers unleashed there hissing arrows into the unweary forces below. Only the gods could help the  
Shu now...  
  
** Soon .... CHAP THREE !! ** 


	3. Fate or Luck?

** Once again. I will say this . I do not own any Dynasty warrior characters. The only character I own is my own, Ma Xu Cheng . Clear? lol **  
  
An Armies Last Hope  
  
With a sudden grow of screams and yelling everyone became alert in the camp. The silent night had been broken by the sign of falling soldiers and charging foes. Without hesitation Ma Chao jumped back onto his horse along with a good bunch of his forces. They began an uphill charge onto the newly notices attackers. Could he really even stand a chance with an uphill charge towards arrows and spears? If he did he would not have many warriors fulling at all. Taking action not much time later Liu Bei jumped onto his horse followed closely behind by Ma Cheng. As he watched the arrows and his soldiers he rode side to side around the camp avoiding the onslaughter of  
arrows. " Ma Cheng, Send your troops over to the left . Its the most  
guarded part of the camp. Also it shows a good position for returning archery fire. " Without a moments notice Ma Cheng turned with nothing more  
than a nod. The time had come for the soldier to take his place as an officer and try to help his army. As he rode over to his forces he began  
yelling orders, " Soldier ! Run to the left side and prepare for close combat. Any archers follow Liu Bei's forces and notch your arrows. Prepare  
to fire at will, do not await orders! ", with that he turned and began  
running straight up the hill after Ma Chao's horse division. With admiration he watched Ma Chao's skill. He slashed left and right from his steed with great accuracy towards the ambushers. Once he got closer he saw he needed to fight with everything he had in him. He charged with a war cry and began slashing away at the Wei forces. Ma Chao turned noticing this. Another thing he noticed was that his calvary soldiers were dieing quickly from the other angles of archery. Suddenly he heard himself yell something he never really did before, " Retreat back to Lord Liu Bei !" , with than himself, Ma Cheng, and the rest of the horsemen turned in full retreat back  
to help there somewhat surrounder commander. If anything they needed to  
protect that man. If he died, the empire fell. Further more if that  
happened he would definatly lose everything he had right now.  
  
Now was Ma Cheng's full chance. He had been a good friend of Jiang Wei most of his life and had read some of the stratagy books. With a small  
smile creasing his face finally he turned. He called almost 75 horse  
archers with him. He suddenly made a charge cutting out through the archers. Once out her began circling the attackers with the archers. The horse bowmen were extremely accurate and fired 75 arrows, practically 60 at least hitting each time. With this tactic they began very slowly lowering the large Wei force. As he kept riding he wondered if he could do this long enough to give Ma Chao and Liu Bei time to gather a plan. Soon after he took notice to something vital to this plan. His archers were running short on arrows and that could cause great problems in this plan. Was it really  
going to now be his time to show greatness... or defeat. Suddenly as everything grew silent again, arrows flew from over the trees behind the Wei archers cutting them down. A moment later the mighty Huang Zhong came out with his own division, which as you may have guessed was all archery. Now this caused Zhang He to think some. He knew he could take on the three generals that he first encountered, but four... this could cause problems. Slowly now Liu Bei's plan began to work and he charged with Ma Chao up the hill in full assult. Nothing could stand in there way. With the new found  
help, they had all the chance and power to fight Wei. This caused great relief over Liu Bei. He could now ressurect his lost pride and minimize the  
Wei force. Before an hours time the battle ended and they sent Zhang He  
into full retreat. Now they showed their power. Shu was a force to be reconed with. Liu Bei and his other officers knew this was a small sign of what his small land could do... all the cards were in his hand... at least  
at this moment. 


	4. Hope turned to Chance

** This is the disclaimer. I do not own ANY Dynasty Warriors characters (  
Other than Ma Xu Cheng ). As you can see I just like to type fics about  
them. Enough said ? Well good , lets get to the fic !! **  
  
Resurrection of Loss  
  
After this large battle all there was left to do was converse and celebrate a well deserved victory over the Wei. Liu Bei knew this battles  
victory was truely only a bit of luck. If Huang Zhong had not come this battle clearly would have been lost to the overpowering forces Zhang He had control over. " Troops, Feast and celebrate . Tomorrow we ride to Cheng Du! It is time for a well needed rest with out familes!" , not a moment after the King of Shu had announced that the crowd of soldiers erupted into roars and cheers. It was easily shown, a small kingdom had no less spirit then the others. After hours of celebration the party like festival had finally died down and the forces began to sleep the night away. As they did this, they had no idea of what Zhang He did. He did retreat that was a well seen fact at this time, but he retreated for a reason. That reason was for more  
troops. If he could withhold only a few thousand more his troops could easily take care of all four of the now generals. While his forces rode he  
even had a messenger far ahead to deliver this most important message. Around the middle of the long night they finally stopped to rest. Zhang He had no true idea if he was being followed. The quick retreat gave him no  
time to post any spies or scouts there. All he knew was when he got his  
force he would have no problem charging through the Shu country towards Cheng Du. This put him to an easy sleep. Slowly as he slept his messenger arrived in a camp off in the distance. Over maybe thirteen miles distance. With little problems he got in to Cao Cao's court to deliver his message. As he did so Cao Cao had no dissagreement with this plan. If it gave him a larger oppertunity to destroy one more opponent he had no problems with it. As the night passed the messenger took off again still tired and hungry. It seemed like an eternity before the darkness of the land was taken over by the bright sun's rays. While the sun did so the drunk forces of Shu finally  
awoke staggering to get into a standing and organized position. The commanders came out looking refreshed. It was accustom for officers to keep sobber while on the open plains, which could cause battle. The reason of  
which was to keep a clear mind of attack or defense if needed. The day  
passed by with soldiers following the four commanders either on foot or  
horse. More than half of their force was horseback though. At this time  
they had almost 11,000 troops following behind. Liu Bei took control of over 5000 of them when Huang appeared in the nights attack. Now the rest were evenly split among Ma Cheng, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong. Finally, with a hard days travel the large force finally came into view of their capital, Cheng Du. When they entered the gates the forces were well recognized by their homeland. Cheers of honor and happiness fell from the crowds around them. The Fortified city itself held almost 6000 honor guards on the walls. Now all together the great force added up to near 17,000. Mainly the best thing about that was they still had another Jiang Wei with his 3000 troops and Zhang Fei with 7000 troops outside the gates on the plains in battle. Through the day the cheers stayed around. The troops which finally returned were granted a days pass for family time. This pleased every single soldier  
in the army. Also, this gave Liu Bei time to meet with his wife at the time, Sun Shang Xiang. Well as you probably know she was the daughter of Sun Jian the founder of Wu. When she married Liu Bei it made a bond between the two at this time. With the two countries aligned they formed a better  
chance of destroying the great forces of Wei.  
  
Two days later Liu Bei was resting in his throne hall with his wife.  
As they talked suddenly a man came running through the doors. He bows quickly and began supporting a quick message, " Lord Liu Bei, I am Zhang  
Fei's imperial Messenger. He told me to send word that he is in retreat this was. He also wished to add that Zhang He accompanied by Xu Huang are charging him and Jiang Wei forcing them in this direction with near 5000 in all with troops. With that he wants you to reinforce him on the way at the  
pass. If you do he can retreat and lure the unsuspecting enemy into a  
trap." With little more said Liu Bei stood walking quickly to the doors  
running once out. Seeing that his final oath brother was in danger he needed to act quickly. He would send Ma Chao out with 4000 soldiers to cut them off in the pass. The thing Zhang Fei's message lacked was the troop number Wei had. That was an important issue missed. As Ma Chao ran followed by Ma Cheng along with near 8000 troops. Now he thought about it and knew he needed the Ma cousins together in case. It would be a stupid decision to  
send a small force and be cut off in Wei forces. He could not bear a  
message of Ma Chao's death. With the two out of the castle and onto the field he felt more secure about his forces. At this time he had none at all to spare. After checking after the gates had been closed he found that at this time majorly Huang Zhong and him had a full force of around 9000. That would hold a fort if needed. Now all he could really do is wait and hope that Ma Chao and Ma Cheng could succeed in their mission. If they lost, it left an open path for the Wei to charge and attack. If they succeeded, the  
Wei would take too much of a loss to attack in any time near. Too many thoughts now clouded his thought. The day went on as he secured the gates and the walls. Time went by quickly as it turned to night. Liu Bei went to  
rest the night away... it was all he could do.  
  
Off in the distance now Ma Chao and Ma Cheng had made a good bit of  
miles forward on the field . They neared the pass. At this time their forces were gaining enough nerve to fight again. Like it was said the Shu may not have had the men to come true with their dream of futuring into the Han Dynasty again but they most definatly had the spirit and courage. Those  
were mainly two things anyone needed. Although troops were always well  
needed. Along with stratagy.  
  
** Chap. 5 coming shortly. Quick part to it below !**  
  
As Ma Chao fell back off his horse he looked up towards the sky . The  
arrow in his chest was buried deep within his armor. His chances of surviving were low. They had never thought the Wei had this many troops , not even half. The Shu would have no chance... the Shu Pass was beaten. Ma  
Chao had fallen. At this time they had no different thought then he was probably dead. Doubt had fallen in the lines of the Army... even the most words in all of Shu could no change the hearts of the beaten warriors now. 


End file.
